Blogging for the Gray Wolf

Wolves are one of the most social animals on earth, they’re right up there with us, the Great Apes, dolphins, lions, elephants, etc. Their lives are about family. Wolves may disperse from their natal packs between 1-3 years of age but it’s an individual choice. When they do decide to leave they’re prepared to do whatever it takes to find a mate and claim new territory. And that’s when the trouble begins for them.

There’s a reason wolves have been unable to reclaim lost habitat in most of their former range, they’re killed before they have a chance. The Pacific Northwest, Northern Rockies, Great Lakes and Southwest, where critically endangered Mexican gray wolves struggle to increase their numbers, are the only areas of the country where gray wolves are successfully breeding and raising pups. BUT in 2009, when wolves in the Northern Rockies were delisted by the Obama administration, their recovery took a very dark turn. Until recent court decisions relisted wolves in Wyoming and then the Great Lakes, they suffered the same fate as their wolf brothers and sisters in Montana and Idaho.

Wolves are hunted with extreme animus, tortured by leghold traps, snares, arrows, bullets, many gut shot to prolong and increase their pain. The ultimate sadism directed at wolves was legalized in Wisconsin, as a twisted form of dog/wolf fighting. It allowed the use of up to six dogs per trophy hunter to track and trail wolves. It’s not a stretch to believe some hunters let their dogs tear into the wolves, once they were cornered, delivering an even more grisly, frightening and painful death. That’s been put on hold for now, due to recent court decisions but members of Congress, pandering to agricultural and hunting interests, are already scheming to make an-end-round the courts and pass legislation similar to the 2011 budget bill delisting rider, that removed wolves in Montana and Idaho from the endangered species list.

Life is hard for wolves in this country. The dream of wolf reintroduction has turned into a nightmare for hunted wolves. Idaho’s beleaguered wolf population faces endless wolf hunts that stretch through breeding, denning and pupping season. Hunting quotas have all but been removed in most of Montana and Idaho. In the Treasure State up to a hundred wolves can be killed by a single private landowner.

The situation for hunted wolves is not a success story but a tragedy. When wolves attempt to disperse, as Echo did, they usually end up DEAD.

Another barrier to wolf recovery is Wildlife Services, a ghastly federal agency, funded by American tax dollars. They act as the Department of Agriculture’s killing arm, destroying millions of animals annually, including hundreds of wolves. It’s agriculture’s personal hit man-tag-team. Click here, here and hereto read the Sac Bee’s expose of this hellacious agency.

Is it a surprise then that wolf recovery has been stopped in most of the country, outside of the areas I’ve mentioned? The odds are stacked against wolves as they face the likes of Wildlife Services, poachers, hostile state governments, hunters and ranchers. Wolves are trapped by man-made boundaries they dare not cross. Boundaries that hold no meaning for them but ultimately contribute to their deaths.

One of the deadliest threats to dispersing wolves is the “coyote excuse”. As I stated in part one, using those two words, gives the shooter a perfect alibi. It’s “he said, he said”. Or “she said, she said”. The wolf is dead, it’s the shooter’s word that counts.

What’s so striking about the wolf killings in Kentucky and Kansas is wolves had been absent from those states for decades and specifically in Kentucky, for 150 years. Instead of celebrating the return of the wolf, she’s shot dead.

The USFWS should be prosecuting these people, to send a message that killing endangered wolves IS NOT OK. Instead they let “hunters” off with the “coyote excuse”. I don’t care what the “coyote hunters” say, if they kill an endangered wolf they should be prosecuted, period! That will send a signal to these numbskulls that shooting endangered wolves has consequences. But the USFWS continues to fail wolves, they don’t take the killings seriously. It’s pretty clear USFWS is not interested in gray wolf recovery, that’s why they’re pushing for a national delisting.

And why is it OK to kill coyotes? It’s not. I’ve seen one too many horrific images of dead coyotes, killed for fun, killed for nothing. Coyotes undoubtedly need protection as well.

It’s a slap in the face to wolf and wildlife advocates that the agency charged with protecting wild wolves looks the other way when wolves are killed with impunity, meting out almost no punishment, even though the ESA clearly states:

- authorizes the assessment of civil and criminal penalties for violating the act or regulations; and

- authorizes the payment of rewards to anyone furnishing information leading to arrest and conviction of ANY violation of the act or any regulation issued there under.

A mockery has been made of the ESA concerning wolves. it’s a joke to think they’re protected, when time and again they’re killed as they attempt to disperse, just as Echo’s sad story proves.

Unless and until the American people stand up to the Interior Department and Congress, nothing will change. The system is broken and corrupt and needs a complete overhaul.

Here are a just a few examples of what happens when wild wolves dare to disperse from their natal packs, in search of a mate and new territory. It’s the wolf version of Russian Roulette.

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UTAH

Echo shot dead by coyote hunter using “coyote excuse”.

Her death was a tragic blow to wolf recovery, being the first confirmed wolf to inhabit the Grand Canyon in 70 years.

First Gray Wolf Spotted At Grand Canyon In 70 Years Shot Dead By Hunter

BY ARI PHILLIPSPOSTED ON FEBRUARY 12, 2015 AT 2:59 PM UPDATED: FEBRUARY 13, 2015 AT 8:54 AM

Officials have confirmed that the first gray wolf seen around the Grand Canyon in 70 years was killed in December by a hunter in southern Utah after he mistook it for coyote. The three-year-old female, named “Echo” through a contest held with hundreds of schoolchildren, was the first gray wolf to be spotted in the region since the 1940s. After being collared in Wyoming in early January 2014, the wolf had ventured at least 750 miles into the new territory — further evidence that gray wolf populations are coming back from the brink of extinction after decades of reckless killings.

“The fact Echo had ventured into new territory hopefully signifies that there is still additional habitat where this vulnerable species can thrive and survive,” Nidhi J. Thakar, deputy director of the public lands project at the Center for American Progress, told ThinkProgress.

The coyote hunter who shot Echo, and whose name has not been released, reported the killing to authorities as an accident. Gray wolves are on the Endangered Species Act and it is illegal to kill them anywhere in the U.S. except Idaho and Montana, eastern Washington and Oregon, and northeastern Utah. According to the Center For Biological Diversity, this partial removal of federal protections in the Northwest has lead to the deaths of thousands of wolves through state-authorized hunting and trapping in recent years. Congress is now considering a legislative rider that would preclude protecting wandering wolves like Echo, according to the wildlife conservation group.

“Echo’s killing illustrates the perils that wolves face and the imperative to maintain federal protections as called for under the science-based standards of the Endangered Species Act,” said Michael Robinson of the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement. “Keeping wolves on the endangered list is the basis for the public education we need, to enable more wolves to live and thrive and minimize conflict.”

Wild Wolf in Kentucky, First in 150 Years, Killed by Hunter

“This photo posted on KentuckyHunting.net shows the first wolf to wander Kentucky in over 150 years, dead and exhibited as a trophy”..earthfirstjournaldotorg

earthfirstjournaldotorg

According to a recent announcement by state wildlife officials, a 73-pound, federally endangered female gray wolf was shot dead by a hunter in Munfordville, Kentucky earlier this year. Were it Alaska or Idaho this wouldn’t be news, but Kentucky has not seen wild roaming wolves since the mid 1800s.

Hunter kills Gray Wolf in central Missouri

HOWARD COUNTY, MO. (KTVI) – This past fall a man from southeast Missouri killed what he thought was coyote on his property in Howard County, which is near Columbia, Missouri. But, after a closure inspection of the animal, he thought it was something else.

The Missouri Department of Conservation says that the man killed a Gray Wolf. This is a Federally protected species. DNA confirms the wolf is from the Great Lake states. Officials think the wolf may have wandered down from Minnesota, Wisconsin or Michigan. The animal was not tagged and is not believed to have been a captive animal.

This is the third Gray Wolf killed in Missouri over the past 13 years. Many of them were shot by hunters mistaking the wolves as coyotes.

Colorado

Compound 1080…. “is one of the horrific poisons Wildlife Services uses in its arsenal to kill our wildlife.”

The Amazing Journey and Sad End of Wolf 314F (UPDATE)

October 16, 2009

I posted this story in October 2009 about an amazing little Mill Creek Pack wolf, who traveled 1000 miles from her home in Montana to a lonely hillside in Colorado, called “No Name Ridge”, where her bones were found.

Her death has been under investigation by USFWS all this time.

Finally, after almost two years, it was announced she was poisoned by the deadly compound 1080. It is one of the horrific poisons Wildlife Services uses in its arsenal to kill our wildlife.

Washington

Whitman Co. farmer could face charges for killing wolf

Washington fish and wildlife officials are recommending a Whitman County farmer face misdemeanor charges for shooting a gray wolf last month.

The charge could result in a year in jail and a two-year suspension of hunting, fishing and trapping licenses.

Steve Crown, chief of enforcement for Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, said the shooter was a farmer who also notified authorities. Crown said it is unclear why the farmer shot the wolf, as it did not appear to pose an imminent danger to pets, livestock or the farmer.

Crown said this is the third wolf shooting this year in Washington.

“If it’s just in the area, it’s not open season for wolves,” Crown said.

Illinois

Wolf or Wolf hybrid hit By A Car

Wolf?! found at Morris – Probably a hybrid

This 48-inch long, wolf-like canine was found, apparently hit by a vehicle, on Nettle School Road, just northwest of Morris on Feb. 13. Measurements have been taken determine if it matches common wolf dimensions and DNA testing may be done.

A large, wolf-like animal found dead on a roadside north of Morris last Friday “looks like it might be a hybrid of some sort,” says Illinois Department of Natural Resources district wildlife biologist Bob Massey.

“It has characteristics of coyote, dog and wolf,” Massey said Wednesday, after IDNR sent out a news release about the animal being found along Nettle Creek Road, north of Interstate 80, early on Feb. 13. The site was a couple miles northwest of Morris, Massey said.

The animal was found by a some guys heading to a hunt club, who then called, he said.

Massey has measured the animal and sent the information off to a wolf biologist in Wisconsin.

“If it falls within the parameters of wolf size, we will send it for DNA analysis by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,” he said.

North Carolina

10 highly endangered Red wolves were “confirmed or suspected gunshot deaths since the start of last year.” Once again the “coyote excuse” was used.

Highly endangered red wolves being shot with impunity – only 100 wild red wolves left in North Carolina. Apparently these yahoos will shot any wolf they can.

Endangered red wolf shot in NC, 10 in past year

WCNC Staff, WCNC.com3:34 p.m. EST January 13, 2014

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The death toll for endangered red wolves continues to mount near their North Carolina refuge.

Federal and state wildlife agencies said Monday that another red wolf was found shot to death last week in Tyrrell County. That makes 10 confirmed or suspected gunshot deaths since the start of last year.

There are only about 100 red wolves roaming an area in Tyrrell and four other northeastern North Carolina counties where the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been trying to restore the animals in the wild.

The state Wildlife Resources Commission this summer allowed coyote hunting in the same five-county area, but hunters easily confuse the two animals.

A federal judge is scheduled to hear arguments next month in a lawsuit by conservation groups seeking to stop the coyote hunting.

New York

Coyote killers even shoot horses – no animal is safe!

Lousy Coyote Hunters Shoot Horses, Licences Seized

(not horses killed)

18 Feb, 2015 – CONRAD BAKER

SPARTA – The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has revoked two individuals’ hunting licenses for three years and issued a monetary penalty after the hunters shot and killed two horses on Jan.24, violating state Environmental Conservation Law.

Demand Justice for Echo

target: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe

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It’s as we feared.

DNA analysis shows that the gray wolf gunned down in Utah last December was Echo, the Grand Canyon wolf. Echo wandered more than 750 miles from the Rocky Mountains to find a mate. When she made her historic appearance on the Grand Canyon’s north rim in 2014 she became the first wolf spotted there in more than 70 years.Just three weeks before her killing she received the name “Echo” through a naming contest entered by hundreds of schoolchildren around the world who were fascinated by her journey.But hopes of seeing gray wolves reestablished near Grand Canyon died when a hunter shot her dead, claiming to have mistaken her for a coyote.

Wolves are an endangered species in Utah, but hunters are rarely, if ever, punished when they illegally kill animals supposedly mistaken for unprotected wildlife species.

Demand justice for Echo.

Tell the head of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that Echo deserves justice and he must do everything in his power to investigate and prosecute this callous and tragic shooting.

Understanding, as John Muir did the importance of the “web of life” and the value of large protected areas, both on land and across our oceans as vital to responsible stewardship. We take our responsibility seriously to share our planet with all species of life and believe that we must instill passion in our effort to pass Earth’s bounty on to future generations.

Speak For Wolves

Get involved, make a difference for wolves and wildlife before it’s too late!

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More reasons to effect permanent change!!

Congress Takes Aim at Gray Wolves

Two new bills would strip the predator of endangered species protections.

When it comes to saving certain iconic endangered species, such as bald eagles, Americans embrace the effort wholeheartedly. There was resistance to ending the use of the pesticide DDT, the leading culprit in their decline, but it happened. Now bald eagles have recovered to the point that they’re off the federal list of endangered species. A pair is even nesting in New York City’s busy harbor.

Wolves are a different story. Although gray wolves are an equally potent symbol of freedom and nobility, American style, this week saw two efforts kick off in the House of Representatives to end endangered species protections for the species.

Rep. Reid Ribble, R-Wis., on Thursday introduced legislation to force the United States Department of Interior to remove gray wolf populations in Wyoming, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Michigan from the federal endangered species list. Three Democrats are among the bill’s14 cosponsors.

Wolves are an immediate threat to “domestic animals, farm animals and, quite frankly, children,” Ribble said last month, according to E&E News.

Another Midwestern lawmaker, Rep. John Kline, R-Minn., signed on to Ribble’s bill and introduced his own earlier in the week. Kline’s measure goes one step further by proposing to “prohibit treatment of gray wolves in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan as endangered species.”

That phrasing seems calibrated to make Great Lakes gray wolves ineligible, forever, for protection under the nation’s key wildlife conservation law, as well as to end-run any court orders that might demand their protection.

Ribble’s measure, by contrast, would not stop conservationists from petitioning for wolves’ protection or federal conservation officials from returning the Great Lakes or Wyoming wolf populations to endangered status.

Similar legislation in 2011 forced the end of federal protections for wolves in Idaho and Montana, and the Center for Biological Diversity has stated that more than 1,956 wolves have been killed in the two states since.

Protecting a species under federal law is usually time-consuming and complicated. So Ribble’s measure, if passed, might still mean years of state management for these wolf populations, and that’s not a welcome prospect for the animals’ advocates.

“This bill would turn over the keys to wolf recovery to four states that have made it clear they’re more interested in killing wolves than saving them,” Brett Hartl, endangered species policy director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement.

After protections for the Great Lakes and Wyoming wolves ended in 2011 and 2012, more than 1,600 animals were killed under state management plans, the center said, “likely contributing to a 25 percent decline in Minnesota and a 9 percent decline in the northern Rockies.”

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Federal Legislation Would Strip ESA Protections for Gray Wolves

February 12, 2015

The Humane Society of the United States urges Congress to keep wolves protected and for USFWS to Downlist to Threatened

Representatives from Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Wyoming introduced legislation that would remove gray wolves in those states from the Endangered Species list. This legislation comes on the heels of two recent court cases that placed wolves in the Great Lakes and Wyoming back under federal protection due to overreaching state management programs that jeopardized wolf recovery. It is the first of several bills expected to be introduced this Congress seeking to weaken protections for wolves and to subvert a series of federal court rulings that determined that the federal government has too narrowly segmented wolf populations and that the states had overreached in their trophy hunting, commercial trapping, and hounding programs.

Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The Humane Society of the United States, issued the following statement in response:

“This legislation is an end-around a series of federal court rulings that have determined that state and federal agencies have acted improperly in acting to delist wolves. This bill is just a the latest act of political bomb-throwing and gamesmanship, and lawmakers who want balance on the wolf issue should reject it.

Federal judge: Great Lakes wolves return to endangered list

By John Flesher, Associated Press5:52 p.m. EST December 19, 2014

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — A federal judge on Friday threw out an Obama administration decision to remove the gray wolf population in the western Great Lakes region from the endangered species list — a decision that will ban further wolf hunting and trapping in three states.

The order affects wolves in Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin, where the combined population is estimated at around 3,700. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service dropped federal protections from those wolves in 2012 and handed over management to the states.

U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell in Washington, D.C., ruled Friday the removal was “arbitrary and capricious” and violated the federal Endangered Species Act.

Unless overturned, her decision will block the states from scheduling additional hunting and trapping seasons for the predators. All three have had at least one hunting season since protections were lifted, while Minnesota and Wisconsin also have allowed trapping.

More than 1,500 Great Lakes wolves have been killed since federal protections were removed, said Jonathan Lovvorn, senior vice president of the Humane Society of the United States, which filed a lawsuit that prompted Howell’s ruling.

“We are pleased that the court has recognized that the basis for the delisting decision was flawed, and would stop wolf recovery in its tracks,” Lovvorn said.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service spokesman Gavin Shire said the agency was disappointed and would confer with the U.S. Department of Justice and the states about whether to appeal.

“The science clearly shows that wolves are recovered in the Great Lakes region, and we believe the Great Lakes states have clearly demonstrated their ability to effectively manage their wolf populations,” Shire said. “This is a significant step backward.”

Wolf advocates applauded the ruling Friday.

“We filed the lawsuit to relist the Great Lakes population of wolves,” said Jill Fritz, coordinator of Michigan’s Humane Society of the United States. “It was based on the assertion that the Great Lakes states had proven they could not responsibly manage wolves when they were delisted in January 2012.”

Jodi Habush Sinykin, an attorney for Midwest Environmental Advocates, which supports science-based wildlife management, said the decision should serve as a clear signal of caution to people who would destroy the nation’s wolves.

Minnesota Natural Resources Commissioner Tom Landwehr said agency attorneys will study the ruling before determining its effect on state wolf policy.

“On face value we’re very surprised. We didn’t even know it was coming to a conclusion here,” Landwehr said. “It’s an unusual turn of events.”

Putting this all together, adding the current 2014 wolf mortality numbers of 443, plus the 1827 wolves killed during 2013/early 2014, minus the 11 wolves who died of natural causes, adds up to 2256 wolves killed between January 2013 and November 21, 2014. They were wiped out by hunters, poachers, Wildlife Service control actions, ranchers and accidents. I believe the numbers are much higher than this. Many more wolves have been killed illegally and will never be counted, so we can only speculate on those numbers but I’m sure they’re not insignificant.

In less than 23 months over 2200 wolves have been killed! This is an absolute outrage. Wolves cannot sustain these high mortality rates. Something must be done to stop the carnage.

In the coming days I’ll be exploring a way in which wolf advocates may be able to challenge this slaughter. It’s been written about and discussed but hasn’t been tested.

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November 20, 2014

My previous post dealt with the ongoing number of wolves killed in 2014. This post deals with total 2013/early 2014 wolf mortality in the Northern Rockies/Great Lakes. It’s a huge number! A slaughter! What’s behind this madness? It’s certainly not because wolves are harming humans or are a threat to the livestock industry.

Livestock Losses

Truth:Less than a quarter of one percent, 0.23%, of the American cattle inventory was lost to native carnivores and dogs in 2010, according to a Department of Agriculture report.

The government’s own data show that the real killers of cattle are not a few endangered wolves or other wildlife – it’s illness and weather. Yet, the predation myth has directly contributed to a federal, 100-year, paramilitary assault on millions of native carnivores.

The livestock predation myth is a big lie imposed on the American public. While lethal predator control does little to help the fat cats of agribusiness, it ensures that the USDA-Wildlife Services stays in business. While the feds assault millions of our native wolves, bears, cougars, and coyotes, the true cattle killers are illness and weather. The Wildlife Services’ lethal predator control program must end, and the taxpayers, wildlife, and wildlands will reap the benefits.

Wolves are being wiped out in record numbers, driven by a hate filled anti-wolf movement. Their numbers are small but unfortunately for wolves, the haters dominate policy in wolf states. They also have powerful allies, like The Safari Club, The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Sportsman for Fish and Wildlife, Cattlemen’s Association, etc. The profit motive is also driving the killing machine. State fish and game agencies win in two ways, a top predator is killed off to inflate ungulate numbers for their customers, the hunters and the state makes money off the sale of wolf hunt tags. Wolves are also the target of ranchers, Wildlife Services and poachers. Anywhere wolves turn, they’re in danger. Even Yellowstone National Park wolves aren’t safe. Many collared park wolves have been shot by hunters when they step one toe outside the park. The most famous wolf in the world, the Lamar Canyon alpha female, better known as O6 (her birth year), was killed by a hunter’s bullet.

426 wolves have been wiped out since the beginning of 2014. Pups, alphas, whole packs, gone. The majority have been slaughtered in the ongoing Idaho, Montana, Minnesota and Wisconsin wolf hunts. 17 wolves were killed in Wyoming’s “predator zone” before a federal judge recently relisted them. 3 wolves were killed in Washington state, even though they’re “protected” there. The Huckleberry Pack alpha female was shot by a WDFW sharpshooter from the air, the alpha female of the Teanaway Pack and a female wolf from the Smackout Pack, were both poached. And I’m not even counting wolves killed by Wildlife Services this year or wolves killed in the 2014 part of the 2013/2014 hunts. That would push the total much higher.

The saddest part of all this are the hunts are far from over. Wildlife Services killings are not over.

This has to stop, we are traveling down that long, dark road of wolf eradication.

Please don’t give up on wolves, be their voice! Speak out for them, they’re suffering, in the cold, in traps, shot, snared, torn from their families! We must work to end this nightmare! We are their only voice!

Summer is almost over and instead of wolves being allowed to raise their young pups in peace they’re being subjected to pain, suffering and death because wolf hunting season is upon them once more. This will be the fourth wolf hunt in Montana and Idaho, there would have been five but Judge Molloy relisted wolves in the Northern Rockies in 2010, stopping the fall hunt. It was a short-lived victory because Senate Democrats passed a wolf delisting rider (with no judicial review) in the Spring of 2011. The rider was sneakily tacked onto a budget bill and all Democrat Senators, save three, voted for it. Obama signed it into law, effectively ending the ability of advocates to fight the delisting in court.

Here are the links to fish and game agencies who promote and profit off the killing of wolves for sport. The Idaho hunt started on August 30th but in reality wolves are hunted somewhere in the state year round. Montana wolf archerystarted on Sept. 6, it makes me sick to think wolves are being shot at with compound bows and broad head arrows. In Wyoming’s wolf predator zone, wolves can be killed 24/7, 365 days of the year, by any means. Wisconsin is allowing wolves to be hunted with dogs, basically legalizing dog fighting. The brutality has begun again!

Since mid-term elections are right around the corner you might want to click here. It lists who voted for the 2011 wolf delisting rider. Then in November, you’ll know exactly who betrayed wolves and vote them out of office!

Update: Apparently, just as I was posting this article the Duluth News Tribune launched their new website and the URL for the article is not working. The paper stated it would be up in the next couple of hours with a new URL, so when that happens I’ll repost the link. Sorry for any inconvenience……Nabeki

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Finally some common sense for Minnesota wolves. Thanks to bill authors “Senate Environment and Energy Chairman John Marty, DFL-Roseville; Sen. Foung Hawj, DFL-St. Paul; and Sen. Chris Eaton, DFL-Brooklyn Center”. And to Howling for Wolves for their tireless work on behalf of Minnesota wolves!

A bill that would suspend Minnesota’s wolf hunt was passed by a Senate committee this afternoon.

A bill that would suspend Minnesota’s wolf hunt was passed by a Senate committee this afternoon.

The bill, passed by the Senate Environment and Energy Committee, would put the hunt on hold “to study outcomes of the wolf hunt on the wolf population and to implement the wolf management plan,” according to its wording.

Minnesota has held its first managed gray wolf hunting and trapping seasons the past two years after the wolf was removed from the federal Endangered Species List. Some groups and individuals have protested the hunt and filed lawsuits trying to prevent it. None of those suits was successful.

The “Wolf Data Bill,” as it’s titled, also calls for an annual wolf population census and creation of an advisory wolf task force appointed by the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. It would also close tribal lands to the hunting and trapping of wolves if tribal leadership requests it.

What gives with the number changes? Can’t they count? Did they lose two wolves?

I haven’t been saving the individual daily counts but now I am. This has happened several times. Idaho’s counts have changed too. It’s bad enough having to do this but seeing the numbers go up and down is even more maddening

There are no words for this disgusting display of cowardice and brutality. Why are these wolves dead? What is their crime? That they live and breathe air?

All who are silent are guilty. All who made this possible are guilty. All who pulled the trigger, shot the arrows, used the poison, set the traps and snares, baited and called, tracked the collars, killed the babies, killed the mothers, killed the fathers, killed the brothers, killed the sisters, killed without mercy, killed with black hearts, tortured, maimed, chased, bludgeoned, strangled, stalked and stabbed have my utter and complete contempt.

We will stop this madness, we will end this nightmare, we will save America’s wolves from this butchery, no matter how long it takes or the sacrifices we have to make. We will never give up, we will not capitulate. We are legion.

The Humane Society of the United States and The Fund for Animals have announced they intend to sue the USFWS over the delisting of gray wolves in the Great Lakes region, with the goal of seeing Endangered Species Protections restored for the beleaguered animals. This was very welcome news as the Wisconsin wolf hunt opened Monday.

Wolves in the Northern Rockies and now the Great Lakes Region have been handed over to brutal state management. They are suffering the tortures of the damned as they are trapped, shot, hunted with bow, snared and in Wyoming treated like vermin in over 80% of the state, where they can be killed by any means, 365 days of the year. Wisconsin wants to chase them to their deaths with up to six dogs per hunter. A legal challenge stopped that horror for now but a hearing is scheduled in December to re-visit the issue.

Wolves cannot survive this holocaust. The feds, along with ranching interests, teamed up to wipe them out in the 1900’s. If the killing isn’t stopped we will lose them once again. Wolves must be re-listed, not only in the Great Lakes but the Northern Rockies as well!!

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October 15, 2012

The Humane Society of the United States Files Notice of Suit to Restore Federal Protection for Great Lakes Wolves

On the day of the first public wolf hunting and trapping season in the Great Lakes region in more than 40 years, The Humane Society of the United States and The Fund for Animals served notice that they will file suit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to restore federal protections for Great Lakes wolves under the Endangered Species Act. The groups are also asking the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota to postpone wolf hunting and trapping until the case can be decided on the merits.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s most recent decision to delist wolves became effective earlier this year, after multiple previous attempts to delist wolves were struck down by the courts over the course of the last decade.

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service put faith in the state wildlife agencies to responsibly manage wolf populations, but their overzealous and extreme plans to allow for trophy hunting and recreational trapping immediately after de-listing demonstrate that such confidence was unwarranted,” said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO for The HSUS. “Between Minnesota’s broken promise to wait five years before hunting wolves, and Wisconsin’s reckless plan to trap and shoot hundreds of wolves in the first year, it is painfully clear that federal protection must be reasserted. The states have allowed the most extreme voices to grab hold of wolf management, and the result could be devastating for this species.”

If there was any doubt about the intentions of the hunters involved, anAssociated Press story written by Steve Karnowski and Todd Richmond made them plain. The reporters talked to hunters about why they bought wolf hunting permits.

Lawsuit takes aim to stop wolf hunt in Wisconsin

Groups want protection back

On the opening day of the Wisconsin wolf hunting and trapping season, the Humane Society of the United States and The Fund for Animals served notice they will file a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to restore federal protections for Great Lakes wolves under the Endangered Species Act.

The groups also ask officials in Wisconsin and Minnesota, where a wolf season is scheduled to begin in November, to postpone wolf hunting and trapping until the case can be decided. The Wisconsin DNR said Monday it would not halt the season.

“We will continue to implement the season that is directed by Wisconsin law,” said Kurt Thiede, administrator of the DNR’s Land Division.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service delisted wolves in the western Great Lakes region in January and returned management of the species to the states. The Wisconsin legislature in April authorized the state’s first regulated wolf hunting and trapping season.

“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service put faith in the state wildlife agencies to responsibly manage wolf populations, but their overzealous and extreme plans to allow for trophy hunting and recreational trapping immediately after delisting demonstrate that such confidence was unwarranted,” said Wayne Pacelle, president and chief executive officer for the HSUS, in a statement released Monday.

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This blog is dedicated to the memory of Wolf 253, the beloved Yellowstone Druid wolf named Limpy, who was shot and killed in March 08, on the very day ESA protections were lifted for the gray wolf, by the then Bush Administration.